Maxence felt helpless, taking a few moments to listen in to the terrifying sounds of the hound making its way to him. It has moved upward, searching for an opening that can allow it to get closer to him.

Unlike the case with Angel Timothy, this one has transformed into a full hound, any hallowed or demonic powers it once had stripped off along with its consciousness, leaving only a savage desire to conquer, kill and indulge. An entity like that has lost every limit that came with its upright existence and that meant it had great, unrestricted instincts. It's faster, stronger and stealthier than anything Maxence has ever faced.

So, he might as well consider himself dead now in its presence.

And because of this, Maxence was sweating heavily, on the verge of breaking down, all hope of surviving through this loss. But he forced himself to stop being a wimp and do something, at least for the sake of Lucille who had been stuck in this because of him. After all, he’s not exactly as helpless as he thought he was at first. He needed to calm the fuck down, the panic was making him dramatic.

Letting out a frustrated yell, pain shot through his flesh when Maxence moved to reach for the back of his pocket, regretting how he slipped his ring there instead of wearing it like a normal person would. He grimaced, tolerating the pain until he finally reached it, fishing it out of his pocket and thrusting it out of the opening.

Instantly, the ring burst into its true form – a scythe, a cold, refined metal in Maxence's clutch. It felt dull as usual, without the buzz of energy that scythes owned by other demons had, yet it's still a weapon. The transformation caused the destruction of the opening, the blade ruining it, allowing Maxence to crawl out quickly and to take his stand.

"Over here!" he screamed at the hound attacking the bottom part of the overturned car.

Hearing his voice, the hound let out a horrible, bloodcurdling scream as it shot towards him with a speed so unbelievable that Maxence barely dodged it. It attacked him with strength and viciousness, predatory hunger flashing across its face with long talons out for his flesh. Thanks to the adrenaline, Maxence battled the hound with unprecedented strength that matched his foe, sparks flying as the creature’s talons scratch against the blade. The movement of the cambion and the hound locked in battle appeared like mere lashes of black whips in the moon-luminated night.

For the first few minutes, Maxence proved himself capable enough to even exterminate the hound. But his inexperience in calculating his moves for efficiency in expending his energy cost him his success. He’s more human than demon, so he eventually started slacking, tired out after relentlessly attacking the hound and trying to get rid of it. This allowed the hound to step in to injure him - deep scratches across his abdomen and a bite down his forearm.

“Shit,” Maxence swore through his teeth as he kicked the hound away and stumbled back, but it was not because of the pain. There was too much adrenaline in his body that he did not feel the burn of his injuries, he's only pissed off that the hound managed to get to him.

Angrily, Maxence ferociously swung his scythe, taking the hound aback. Finally after so much struggle, he managed to inflict an injury on the creature. It was a deep slash through the hound's leathery skin, causing it to howl in pain as black substance leaked out of the wound, triggering much more of its feral instincts.

Maxence went into another struggle with the hound when it pounced on him, his arms starting to ache and tremble as he desperately kept himself alive. Any minute now, Maxence felt his body about to crackdown and he'd surrender to the mercy of the hound who would definitely have none to offer him.

But he thought about his best friend still trapped under that car, in dire need of escaping this situation in order to get the treatment she needed for her injuries. She did not deserve any of those, caused only because Maxence was stupid enough to allow her anywhere near his complicated personal life.

Suddenly, the car made a terrifying creaky noise, minutes away from probably exploding into fragments. In the distance, to his terror, Maxence could hear the howls of more hounds, still far away yet they were getting nearer. He was weak and injured from the attack of the hound, and there were even more coming. He had no idea how he'd be able to get Lucille out of his mess, and that's the only important thing. It didn't even matter if he died right now, but he needed to bring Lucille to safety.

Tears dripping down his eyes, Maxence realized there was one way that could possibly help him right now.

And right there and then, he makes a crucial choice.

Bringing his finger to his teeth, Maxence made himself bleed. With the blood pouring from his wound, Maxence ripped his clothes open and made the symbol of Pandemonium over his heart. He hissed when the mark started glowing, burning his skin as it glowed brighter in crimson.

"I-I abandon m-my humanity," he said through gritted teeth. "I oblige to the d-demands of my demonic her-ritage… and pledge m-my allegiance to Pandemonium!"

The mark burned into his skin, sinking through his flesh and eventually wrapped around his heart. Maxence screamed at the pain, gasping as he gripped his chest, feeling as if his soul was being ripped apart. The hound gazed at him in wonder a few meters away, allured by the red light surrounding him.

It's fire, everywhere it's fire.

Maxence lost grip of sanity as he screamed on and on, his body starting to change. He could only grip tightly to his scythe for purchase, the weapon beginning to glow in red and buzz in response to the demonic energy surging through him for the first time. Horns sprouted from his forehead, his eyes shone scarlet, his nails grew into talons and a long, agile tail grew from his behind, the end dripping with venom.

He'd do anything for Lucille, anything to get her out of this mess.

The hound realized that his prey has evolved into a stronger adversary, pushing it to immediately attack the neophyte demon. It pounced on Maxence, fangs aiming right for his heart. But suddenly, a golden barrier formed in front of the demon's heart, protecting him from the attack and pushing the hound back.

The chain bracelet Lucille gave him shimmered in gold.

Everything has changed. Power surged through Maxence, his limbs filled with strength so many times greater than when he had been human. His senses were heightened and movements stealthy and rapid, his body at its highest potential. Despite the disgust and self-loathing forming fast within him, Maxence can't help but feel so good at how invincible he felt, as if he was able to take on the world now that he has become a full-fledged creature of Pandemonium.

Growling, Maxence lunged forward. He hacked at the hound in a crazed manner with his scythe, his mind stuck at the notion of killing. He darted his tail around, injecting venom around the hound that has looked extremely pitiful with so many large gaping holes filled with Maxence's own venom. It's an ugly fight that finally ended with Maxence slashing the hound's head off while the creature left him a very deep wound to his side, blood dripping down heavily and staining his clothes.

In the silence, Maxence stared down at the hound as it started to turn to dust. His scythe shrunk back into a ring around his finger. He brought his hand to his side, cupping the wound there that has started to tingle as it slowly healed.

The hounds from afar have not yet arrived, and Maxence finally took this as his chance to rush to Lucille. He easily rummaged through the car, busting the door trapping her inside and pulled her limp body out.

"Lucille," Maxence spoke, attempting to wake her. "Lucille… can you hear me?"

No answer.

Maxence sighed heavily and immediately lifted her up in his arms, deciding there's no use trying to rouse her right now. He then turned around and made a dash down the road headed back to the city to seek help, legs running at a very fast pace. At some point, the car exploded into flames, and it's fortunate that he has put some distance between them and the destruction.

But before he could travel even further, silhouettes of grotesque humanoid entities appeared under the twinkle of the stars and the beam of the moon up ahead. There were so many, you can't even see the road anymore.

"Here we go again," Maxence sighed in annoyance and exhaustion, tired and unwilling to deal with this yet he had no choice.

While the hounds made their way towards him, Maxence hid the woman in his arms behind a bush, carefully placing her down on the grass. He touched her cheek once then stood back up, the scythe transforming back to its full form in his hands once again before rushing towards the hounds and engaging in another heavier fight than before.

Left and right, talons and fangs attacked him, and all Maxence could do was let himself go and be as wild as he could, swinging his scythe in every direction and inject venom at every creature that he can reach. He managed to slay several of them, decapitating head, arms and even legs.

And yet, it's too much for one demon to handle.

The horde overwhelms Maxence, their accumulated weight devastating him more than their talons and fangs. He can barely move, so many hands holding onto his scythe while even more held him down.

Darkness flooded his senses, the air in his lungs suppressed. Maxence felt himself slipping as he tried to gasp for air but there was simply no means for him to do so. Even the hounds found it hard to indulge, their talons only digging into Maxence's skin rather than doing major injury.

Was this the end for him already? This sucked big time, Maxence can't even die in a cool way despite successfully turning into a demon.

Salvation came in a flood of strong bright light, winds moving to the beat of white wings. The horde of hounds released their prey and separated, curious of the sudden rush of light, giving Maxence the chance to jump out of the scene and catch his breath, feeling like a fish who had spent too much time on land and had finally jumped back into the ocean.

The newcomers were all women except for one man, all with silky black hair, creamy caramel skin and eyes of gold, their faces and limbs adorned with golden jewelry. They wore the standard uniform for angels, a white trench coat paired with white pants and white boots, with all sorts of golden chains adorning the hems and pockets.

Raising their golden swords towards the direction of the hounds, their ethereal grace contrasted to their ferociousness as they swept down and delivered blows in a sickening godly pace. Maxence sat on the ground, gaping in awe at the scene. He's never personally seen angels in action before and to be honest, this was a blessed experience.

One angel, the only boy among the four, slashed his sword through two hounds at once. He then backed up, his attention shifted towards the demon on the ground.

'Are you okay?' he mouthed.

Maxence nodded in silence, stunned that an angel would bother checking up on him. He has heard from the other demons at the Citadel that while it is inevitable for angels and demons to interact as they go about their duties that didn't really differ, the two sides usually just ignore each other.

This particular angel, looking absolutely bright and handsome, even stepped out of the fight to head towards Maxence's direction. But this proved to be a bad decision in the midst of the crawling numbers of hounds still present. It simply just distracted the angel and allowed two hounds to creep up on him from behind.

'He has no time!' Maxence thought, quickly grabbing his scythe and throwing it towards the direction of the hounds. The angel froze in shock to see the weapon heading towards him, unmoving. The scythe made a turn behind him then efficiently cut through the necks of the hounds behind him.

Realizing the magnitude of the situation, the angel decided not to approach Maxence anymore and continued to fight with his companions.

Free from any danger, Maxence stumbled towards Lucille. She was quite a distance away from him. When he stood on his feet, he immediately fell down, knees quivering. He groaned in annoyance, yet he understood that this was normal. He's just a neophyte, and suddenly engaging into a heavy battle after his transformation naturally strained him and exhausted the energy left inside his body.

Stubbornly, Maxence crawled towards his best friend, just wanting to be near her in case the angels do not notice her presence. His eyesight was starting to go dark, unconsciousness claiming him in favor of forcing rest upon his strained body.

'Just a little bit more… Lucille… needs me...'

The last thing Maxence saw was that handsome angel hovering over him, mumbling things that he could not comprehend as he gave in to his body's desperate need for rest.